Lead ob crayon



A. M. TOZZI.

- LEAD 0R CRAIYON HOLDER.. APPucATloN FILED Demzs. 191s.

mma oet; 12, 1920.

, UNITED STATES PATENT oieFic-a.

ANGELOV ivi. Tozzi, or BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

LIEAD OR CRAYON HOLDER.

Application filed lecenibei' 29, 1919. Serial No. 347,944.'

To all 'whom t may concern' Be it known that I, ANGELO M. Tozzi, a subject of the King of Italy, and resident of Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of` New Jersey, 'haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lead or Crayon Holders, of which' the following is a specification. f 'V 1 l This invention relates Vto `that class of lead or crayon holders wherein the lead or crayon is protruded by manually operated step-bystep feeding devices.

,T he object of my invention is to provide a holder havingfeeding devices of simple and efficient construction and operation which not only permit the easy and positive projection of the lead or crayon to the proper extent and its retention in projected position, but also the ready retraction lof the lead or crayon within the holder when desired.

According to Vmy invention the holder comprises a vtubular casing or handle pro-- vided within one end thereof with a fric tional retaining device for a lead or crayon; a plunger isarranged within the casing and operable to bear against the inner end of the lead or crayon and j advance the latter a limitedl extent to project its point beyond the end of the casing; a manually operative step-by-step feed-bar is arranged within and longitudinally of the casing and in operative relationto the plunger, and a unitary locking element is loosely contained within the casing and is adapted to be automatically positioned by gravity to couple the feedf bar and the plunger when the casing is Vheld in position forv writing, whereby when pressure is appliedito said bar to move it toward the lead or crayon the plunger is correspondingly impelled in a manner to project the point of such lead or crayon beyond the casing. When the holder is inverted, the locking element is automatically disengaged from the feed-bar( and plunger, `thus permitting the lead to be. readily pushedy back into the casing.

PreferableA forms of embodiment ofsmy Y i invention will be hereinafter described, and

in the appended claims.-

In. the drawings?` I j Figure 1` is a longitudinal vertical secr the scope of the invention thenbe defined tion, enlarged, of a lead or crayon holder ein? bodying my invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections of the same, on the lines 2-2 and 3--3 respectively of Fig. 1. ,i Y

v Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof a modified construction. Y i

lFigs.V 5 and 6 are transverse sections, on j f pered portion, centrally thereof, is a split guide tube 12 having an expanded top portion 13 which'is snugly fitted and. held within theJ casing. This tube is adapted to hold by friction the lead or crayon 14. Slidingly mounted in the casing is a piston comprising a head land adepending U-frame 16 car,-V

rying a central plungerl? which is movable within and longitudinally of the guide tube 12 so as to bear against the upper` end of the lead or crayon contained inthe latter, The top of the piston 15 is Vangularlyor conically recessed, as at 18. It is also provided with pends a flat feed-bar 20 which extends centrally andlongitudinally of the casing. This bar is maintained normally in raised posi- Y a vertical slot 19 through which loosely detion by the action ofV a spring 21 which, be-VV ing seated in a suitably-disposed cup' or Vsocket 22v fast within the casing, bears against across-pin 23 extending through the bar. rIhe upper end of the bar presses against a cap 24 which is slidingly fitted in the upper end of the casing and'is suitably shapedto provide a convenient means for the application of vertical pressure to the bar. `The cap is so constructedvand mounted on the casing'jas to have capacity fora deii- Y nite limited movement approximately equal in extent to the desired protrusion ofthe lead or crayonV from the holder.: Inthe present instance.` the tubular. bodyfof. the

cap -is provided with a v`teat`25wl10h iS. i,

slidingly fitted in an annular recess 26 in the upper end of' the casing, said body being `long {itudinally slotted, as at 27, to render it Y orifices is equal to the extent of the longi tudinal movement of the cap, orsubrsta-ntially so. The ball 29 is so positioned within the casing that when the holder is in substantially vertical position for writing, that is, point downward, the ball enters the recess 1S in the top of the piston and tends to roll by gravity toward the center of the recess in amanner to enter the opposing orifice of the feed-bar. When the'ball thus enters the orifice it effectually couples thc bar to the piston head, and hence when the bar'is slightly depressed against the action of the spring 21, by pressure applied to the head 1211, the piston and its plunger arecorrespondingly depressed, which plunger in its movement thus advances the lead or crayon and projects its -point beyond the reduced end ofthe casing to the desired extent. This being done, the cap is released from pressure, whereupon the feed-bar with the ball is raised by the action of the spring 21; the ball falling into the recess 18 of' the piston and entering the next succeeding lower orificeof the bar Q O'presented thereto,

thus again lockingv the bar and the piston and perforce securing the lead or crayon in its projected position. Y

By applying pressure to and releasing it from the cap, in alternate succession, the piston and therewith the plunger are advanced step-by-step and the lead thus correspondingly moved and its point uniformly projected to the desired extent Jfrom the holder.

ln order to retract the lead or crayon into the holder, it is merely necessary to invert the holder, in which case the ball gravitates from its engaging relation with an orifice of the bar.. Thereupon slight inward pressure being applied to the protruding end ofthe lead @or `crayon the latter will'be pushed into the stationary guide 4tube 12 in a manner to press the plunger and its piston backward. To project the lead or vcrayon from time to time the holder is held audits cap manipulated as previously described. f M

30 'designatesa tubular lead or crayon container which is fixedly supported within the upper part of the casing, the base of said container being preferably swaged in the cup or socket 22. Thebottom of the container is slotted, as at 31, for the free passage of the feed-bar.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figs. l to S, inclusive, the feed-bar, 20, is constituted by a unitary ratchet frame comprising two spaced parallel bars a con'- nected intermediate of their ends by a crossbar- 5 and at their lower extremities by a basal part c which is fixed to, so as to be an integral part of such extremities after the piston 15 hasbeen. applied to the bars a. Formed in the inner edges ofthe lower portions of the bar-sare corresponding ratchet teeth 28. The piston 1,5carrying theplungery 17 is provided with diametrically opposite lateral notches Z through which the bars d Dfreely extend; and the top of the piston is formed with'two vopposit-ely inclined recesses 18 extending from the central ridge of the piston down to the respective bars. A spring 21 seated in the expanded top 13 of the guide-tube 12 andv bearing against the basal part c of the bars maintains the ratchet frame normally raised.

The upper portions of the bars a are slidingly fitted in lateral guide ways e in the fixed lead or VAcrayon container 30 andcontact attheirextremities with laterally projecting lips formed on a depending tube g which is affixed to the interior of the top' of the cap 24. Thus when pressure lis applied tothe cap the ratchet frame is de-Y pressed against the action of the spring.

- lWhen the holder is in position for writing the ball 29.is .supported in one or the Y other of the recesses p18 of the piston and is engaged with the opposing tooth of the adjacent ratchet bar. Hence when the cap and the ratchet frame are slightly depressed by the action of the writers finger on Vthe cap as above mentioned, the ratchet tooth which bears upon the opposing ball, correspondingly depresses the piston and theV plunger, andthus accordingly projects the point of the lead'or crayon from the holder, similarly to the first describedconstruction. Likewise when the holder is inverted the ball recedes from the engaged tooth of the adjacent ratchet'bar and permitsthe lead or crayon to be pushed back into the guidetube in the holder. t.

`It is to Ybe understood that I do not limit my invention to thespecifc details of constructionhherein disclosed, as the same may be modified withinthe principle of the invention and the scope `of the appended claims, Y Y

l claim- Y 1. In a lead or crayon holder, the combination with a casing having at one end thereof .means for' frictionally holding a lead or crayon, of a' plunger reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and operative to'advance the lead or crayon, a piston for said plunger having a recessed portion, a feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a succession of spaced-apart locking portions, and a gravity locking element freely contained in saidy casing and adapted to enter` the recess of the piston and bodily move into or out of engaging relation With a proximate locking portion ofthe feed-bar according to the position of the holder.

2. In a lead or crayon holder, the combination with a casing having a relatively fixed lead or crayon holding tube therein adjacent one end of the casing, of a plunger reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and tube, a piston for said plunger having arecessed portion, a feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a succession of spacedapart locking portions, means for operating said bar, and a gravity locking element loosely contained in said casing and adapted to enter the recess of the piston and bodily move into or out of engaging relation with a proximate locking portion of the feed-bar according to the position of the holder.

v3, In a lead or crayon holder, the combination With a casing having atone end thereof means for Africtionally holding a lead or crayon, of a plunger reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and open ative to advance the lead or crayon, a piston for said plunger having a recessed portion, al feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a succession of spaced-apart locking portions, and a pellet loosely contained in said casing and adapted to enter the recess ofthe piston and bodily move into or out of engaging relation With a proximate locking portion of the feed-bar according to the position of the holder.

Ll. In a lead or crayon holder, the combination with a casing having at one end thereof means for frictionally holding a lead or crayon, of'a plunger` reciprocable Within and longitudinally ofsaid casing and open ative to advance the lead or crayon, a recessed centrally-perforated piston for said plunger, a feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a succession ofl spaced-apart orifices, and a gravity locking ball freely contained in said casing and adapted to enter the recess of the 4piston and bodily move into or out of en-V gaging relation with a proximate orifice of the feed-bar according to the position of the holder.

5. In a lead or lcrayon holder, the combination With a casing having at its lower end means for frictionally holding a lead or crayon, of a plunger reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and operative to advance lthe lead or crayon, a piston mounted Within the casing and controlling the plunger, said piston having a recessed upper portion, a feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a succession of spaced-apart locking portions, a spring mounted Within said casing so as to maintain the bar normally in raised position, a slidable pressurecap fitted to the upper end ofthe casing and co-acting With the feed-bar, and a pellet freely contained in the casing and adapted to enter the said recessed portion of the piston and bodily move into or out of engaging relation With a proximate locking portion of the feed-bar accordingl to the position of the Y holder.

6. In a lead or crayon holder, the combination with a casing having at one end thereof means for frictionally holding a lead or crayon, of an ejector element reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and operative to advance the lead or crayon, a

feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudr rnally of said casing and having a succession operative to advance the lead or crayon, a i

feed-bar reciprocable Within and longitudinally of said casing and having a'succession of spaced-apart locking portions, and a gravity ball for temporarily locking said element to the feed-bar, said element having anl inclined ball supporting and guiding portion leading to the path of the locking portion of the feed-bar.

Signed at Nevv York, in the county and State of New York, this 23d day of December, A, D. 1919.

ANGELO M. TOZZI. 

